China will reportedly search for the remains of the US airmen who were lost when their bomber aircraft crashed on Nov. 5, 1950 while flying over China’s southern Guangdong province. The Associated Press reported Tuesday that China’s official Xinhua News Agency made the announcement and characterized it as “a likely gesture of goodwill” on the eve of President Obama’s first visit to China, which is scheduled from Nov. 15-18. According to AP, the bomber went down while on an unknown mission with 15 aboard. The crash came only days after Chinese forces first attacked United Nations troops on the Korean Peninsula during the Korean War. AP reported that four of the airmen’s bodies were supposedly buried at the crash site, while the fate of the other 11 is unknown. (For more on recovery efforts in China, see this Pentagon POW/MIA fact sheet.)
When Donald Trump begins his second term as president in January, national security law experts anticipate he may return to his old habit of issuing orders to the military via social media, a practice which could cause confusion in the ranks.